Collapsible container



Dec. 9, 1941.

H. T. ADAM? COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER Filed Oct. 13, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 1'jzyerzz ar Dec..9, 1941. H. T. ADAMS ,6

COLLAPS IBLE CONTAINER Filed Oct, 15, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 @Mlillll" mumllllll fwerzz or.

1941- H. T. ADAMS I 2,265,618 COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER Filed Oct. 13, 19584 Sheets-Sheet 3 @Kwun Dec. 9, 1941. H. T. ADAMS 2,265,618

- COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER Filed Oct. 15, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 PatentedDec. 9, 1941 U N I TED STAT E S PATENT O F F 1 C E COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINERHenry'T. Adams, Chicago, Ill.

ApplicationOctobcr 13, 1938; Serial No. 234,849

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a collapsible centainer or box.

Collapsed paper or cardboard containers adapted to be erected intoextended position :are unsatisfactory for the storing of papers, checks,files, etc., in that the material is injured .by moisture, insects,exposure to air, etc. It becomes progressively weaker with age and isused ordinarily but .once. There has been a demand for a stronger boxformed of metal, but the cost of such a box has been so great as toprevent its use. An object of the present invention is to provide ametal boxof extremely simple construction which may be readily assembledby anyone without tools and which, when assembled, is extremely sturdy.A further object is to provide such a box which may be stored .incollapsed condition with the locking portions thereof protected frominjury and-which, when it is desired to use the same, may be readilyassembled into a box by an unskilled person without tools. A stillfurther object is to provide a box of such a type in which .the lockingfeatures arelso simple and readily formed that the cost of the box isextremely low and approximately within the price range of papercontainers of the same size. Other objects andadvantages will appear asthe specification proceeds.

The invention is illustrated, in a preferred embodiment, by theaccompanying drawings, in

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container in erected position, aportion of the container being cut away to show the interior thereof anda portion of the cover being removed; Fig. 2, a I

perspective View of the top or cover; Fig. 3, a detailed enlargedsectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line 3 of Fig.1; Fig. 4, a detail sectional View, the section being taken as indicatedat line 4 of Fig. 3; Fig, 5, a perspective view of the inner side of theside wall; Fig. 6, a perspective view of the outer wall of the bottom;Fig. '7, a perspective view of the inside wall portion of the end used;Fig. 8, a broken perspective view of the side walls and end wallsarranged in compact collapsed condition; Fig. 9, a sectional view, thesection being taken as indicated at line 9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10, adetailsectional view, the

'vide a-sturd-y and effectivecontainer. aztop or coveri'D may beemployed. ,Asshown more; clearly-in Fig. 3,:the coveris provided with.spective viewofall the :parts brought together in a compactarrangement; Fig. 15, a transverse sec- ;tional.view,.the section beingtaken as indicated at line tfiof Fig. v14; and'Fig. 1'6, abroken detailsectional .view, the section being :taken as indicated at line '6 ofFig. .14.

'The container-or box consists ofa bottom .wall

.A, side walls B, en'd walls 0, and a cover-D.-

The bottomA, as shown-more clearly in Fig. 16, is provided withverticalside flanges =10 and end flanges ll. The end fianges-arecut away nearthen-ends toprovidea slot l=2. Adjacent the side flanges: l 0 and spacedinwardly therefrom is a row :of tongues :l3 which open towardtheflanges.

.Eachi cfthe' sidewalls B isprovidedat its lower side with abottomxhorizontal flangel tand with .end flanges 1 L5 which are.turnedinwardly. Facing "the endifianges lfiv and spaced inwardlytherefrom .a-re tongues 16.

It .w'illbenoted that the end flanges I5 and bottom flange M are.chamfered ,ortcut away attheir edge portions- .to provide a V-shapednotch or recess H.

.Thecnd wallsC are provided withside fianges 21.8 whichaareinwardlyturned, and'a bottom'horizontal flange l9 which is also turned'towardthe interior ;of the box.

.The structure as describedissufic-ientto pro- If. desired,

downwardly turned side flanges .20 and end .fla-nges 2|, and thefianges-are cut away, at: their ,cornersitop'rovide V+re.cesses;22. Ifdesired, the

.covermayfibeomitted-or other types ofco'vers may be used.

.If desired, the, sidesB may be provided with tonguest2'3 -.on theoutside thereof-for engaging thezoutsideof the bottom side flange I 0,as shown 'moreclearly in Fig.1. These lugs may; be .oflany desirednumber. They .addv rigidity to thestrucwithout lugs .23, it is. foundthat'the container assembled-asshown: in Fig. 1 and with the coverimp-lace, eventhough formed .of very thin .tin, is .suilicientlysturdyto support the weight of a man.

.The tongues Hand 23 may be formed in any desired manner. I have foundthe type .of tongue orzlatch'lug illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 to beparticularly useful in this type of structure. The -tongue,.;as shownprovided in section in Fig. 3, base-horizontal wall which is inwardlydished vor-madezconcave-at 24. Thisstructure is particularly useful .inthat the concavity greatly strengthens the lug or tongue, and alsobecause the inner convex portion of the tongue forms a curve grippingsurface bearing against the flange of the wall to be joined.

It will be observed that the tongues 01' lugs [3, I6 and 23 areextremely short, thus providing a very sturdy structure and a structurewhich is hardly visible when the parts are assembled. It

will be observed, however, that longer tongues maybe employed ifdesired. The tongues I3 may be arranged in any suitable number or size.By reason of the short and sturdy character of the Lil tongues, it isfound that a large number is unnecessary except where unsual strengthisldemanded. l

Operation In the operation of the device, the Icontainer I may beassembled from its collapsedposition.

shown in Figs. 9 to 13 inclusive to the assembled position shown in-Fig. 1 in a. number of. ways.

Forexample, the flange I4 of, the side wall B .may: be brought intoengagement with the tongues |3.,of,the bottom, either by inclining theflange Mso as to slip the, flange l4 laterally uncausing the outertongue 23 to spring about the a,

vertical flange ll] of the bottom A.

With the two side walls. assembled as described,

they are locked rigidly in position by inserting the end walls C intoposition. In this operation,

the end wall C, asshown in Fig. '7, is simply i pressed downwardly sothat the side flanges l8 slide under the tongues l6. w I

It will be noted that the side wallsB are firmly anchored between theflange l0 and the tongues 13 of the bottom A, and before the ends areinserted can be moved only: in one direction, namely inwardly or towardeachother. When the ends are :inserted, this latter movement isprevented so thatwthe' sides 3 areanchored .firmly'ini position. Theends C are also firmly fixed in position1by the interlocking engagement.of. flanges I8 with the tongues l6 and the end flanges l5 -of-sides.B.The horizontal flange l9 in Fig. 11. as in the other arrangementsdescribed, the lugs ture.

the parts may be stored in a bank or a company using the containersuntil it is desired to use them and then a clerk can readily assemblethe necessary number of boxes. The container parts can be collapsed intoa variety of arrangements. For example, the end walls C may be placedwithin the bottom wall A and then covered by the top wall D. The twoside walls B may then be brought together in interlocking facingrelation. Instead of the above arrangement, however, the ends C may beplaced within one of the sides B and then another side may be telescopedtherewith so as to house the ends C withv in the sides B. The latterarrangement is illutrated in Fig. 8. Under this arrangement, the top Dis placed over the bottom A, as illustrated In this manner ofcollapsing, as well l3 and I6 are located always within the interior ofthe container and are not exposed. Thus the stacking. g In thearrangement described in which the ends C arelocated between the sidewalls B, as well as in. the arrangement wherethe ends are locatedbetween the bottom side A and top side D, thei lugs on the interiorcooperatewiththe flanges-l 9 of the end wall C for limiting the slidingmovement thereof inside the collapsed struc- The manner of assemblingthe various parts in collapsed arrangement is manifoldand no attempt.will be made here to described the various forms of collapsedarrangements, In the arrangement described and illustrate in Figs. 14,15 and.16, all of the parts are assembled in one compact form or packet,the inturned tonguesbeing protected in every instance and beingemployed-for maintaining th parts in interlocked compact arrangement.

The lowermost memberis the top or cover D and in-thisis located thebottom member A. The two end pieces C are then placed within the bottomA withthe flange sides thereof facing downwardly; The two sides thenfoldin telescoping relation above the ends, as shown -more clearly inFigs. 14, 15 and 16. The parts thus compactly arranged occupy less thanonetenth the space occupied by the boxer-container when erected. Thearrangement further is such that they can be assembled by an lunskilledoperator with a modicum of effor't. l

of the end walls provides a rigid reinforcement for the end wall againstbending.

It will be .observed that the structure is reduced to its simplest form,there being few parts and these being readily brought together byinexperienced persons and readily assembled into a rigid strongcontainer. In forming the parts,

the simplest of dies are employed. For example,

in forming the tongues 23 with the concave reinforcement, it is foundthat a single one-part die, which is employed in striking out the tongueand which has a concave face, forms the concavity of the wall 24, noopposing die being found necessary. Because of the reduction of thestructure to the extremely simple form, it is found that a'metalcontainerlcan be produced cheaply enough to compete directly with papercontain- BI'S.

Y Figs.v 9 to 13 illustrate the parts already deto two simple packs ofextreme thinness. Thus,

'While in the foregoingspecification, Ihave set forth onespecificstructurefor the purpose of illustration, it will be understoodthat'theinvention disclosed may be employed-in many different formsembodying the spirit of the invention. V V V The foregoing detaileddescription has-been given forclearnessfof understanding only,- and nounnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, but the appendedclaims should be -tom provided with side'flangesand end flangesextending upwardly at right angles thereto,

tongues struck upwardly from said bottom and being open toward saidsideflanges, sidewalls having inwardly-turned right angle flanges eng'agingsaid tongues' and having; their vertical walls engaging'said}.side-flanges, said side walls being also provide'd withinwardly-turnedright angle end flan es LT and 1 with inwardly-strucktongues opening toward said end flanges, and end walls equipped withinwardly-turned right angle flanges lying parallel with and against saidside walls and engaging the tongues thereof, said end walls beingpressed rearwardly by the side flanges thereof against the end flangesof said side walls.

2. In a metal box of the class described, a bottom provided with sideflanges and end flanges extending upwardly at right angles thereto,tongues struck upwardly from said bottom and being open toward said sideflanges, side walls having inwardly-turned right angle flanges engagingsaid tongues and having their vertical walls engaging said side flanges,said side walls being also provided with inwardly-turned right angle endflanges and with inwardly-struck tongues opening toward said endflanges, and end walls equipped with inwardly-turned right angle flangeslying parallel with and against said side walls and engaging the tonguesthereof, said end walls being pressed rearwardly by the side flangesthereof against the end flanges of said side walls and said end wallsbeing also provided with an inwardly-turned right angle bottom flangeadapted to rest against said bottom.

3. In a metal box of the class described, a bottom provided with sideflanges and end flanges extending upwardly at right angles thereto,inwardly-joined tongues struck upwardly from said bottom and being opentoward said side flanges, side Walls having inwardly-turned right angleflanges engaging said tongues and having their vertical walls engagingsaid side flanges, said side walls being also provided withinwardlyturned right angle end flanges and with inwardly-struck concavetongues opening toward said end flanges, and end walls equipped withinwardly-turned right angle flanges lying parallel with and against saidside walls and engaging the tongues thereof, said end walls beingpressed rearwardly by the side flanges thereof against the end flangesof said side walls.

HENRY T. ADAMS.

